


four times

by pinwheeled



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, strictly no angst at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 23:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14903834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinwheeled/pseuds/pinwheeled
Summary: Jihoon finds himself winding up in the same cafe, intoxicated by its coffee and its owner, again and again.





	four times

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!! I wanted to upload something for Junhui’s birthday, but the one I’d previously written was a little too angsty so I’m uploading this late ;-; this is dedicated to Sani, my favourite fellow junhoon shipper~ LOVE YOU and also to everyone who reads this, I hope you like it!!

“Good morning, how may I help you?”

 

There are many things Jihoon needs help with, probably. First of all, he’s woken up twenty minutes late, which causes a huge disturbance in his getting-ready routine. Secondly, his car decides to be low on fuel, and he can’t afford to drive out of the way to the kiosk to refuel it if he doesn’t want to be late. Thirdly, the queue at his favourite cafe is fifteen people too long compared to the usual small crowd when it opens at eight in the morning.

 

“A large iced Americano, thanks,” he says instead. Coffee is always the answer to bad days.

 

“May I have your name, please?” The cashier holds a marker against the cup, and Jihoon mumbles his name quickly, not used to this service in his usual cafe.

 

When the drink is placed on the counter, he grabs it and brisk-walks out of the cafe, across the street, and into his office building. He glances at his wristwatch - just two minutes early. It’s a relief Lunar Coffee is right across his workplace.

 

“Morning, Jihoon, what’s gotten you all flustered?” Seungcheol, his colleague, says as he walks to his desk, carrying a stack of papers from the photocopy machine. 

 

“Almost late,” he replies, taking a long swig of the coffee. It’s less bitter than the one he’s used to drinking, this one a little sweeter, a little more fragrant. Jihoon briefly wonders if the owner of his normal cafe will be upset if he changed his daily fix to Lunar Coffee instead.

 

“Thank god you’re not,” Seungcheol smiles, “Jisoo isn’t in a good mood today.”

 

Jihoon groans, and stands up to make his way into his boss’ office. Jisoo is a calm, gentle man, speaking with an unnatural tameness even when under immense stress. There are times, however, when he snaps, and it’s never good to deal with him during these times.

 

“Good day, Jisoo. Do you have any additional tasks for me today?”

 

“Nothing other than an explanation why you’re...” Jisoo takes a long look at the digital clock on his desktop, “five minutes and twenty-six seconds late here.”

 

A nitpicky, impatient Jisoo is the biggest indicator of a bad-mood Jisoo. Jihoon forces a smile and apologises, the only way to avoid an argument and to escape as quickly as possible to his desk and coffee. He eventually exits the room unscathed, and shoots a thumbs up to Seungcheol on the way back. 

 

“By the way, your coffee’s cute,” Seungcheol says loudly. Jihoon frowns at him, and gets a shrug in response. What a weird guy, thinking coffee is cute. It’s just a cup of dark brown liquid, maybe a little different from his usual cup. What’s cute about it?

 

Jihoon ploughs through his work, tearing the mountain of papers down one by one. It’s almost three in the afternoon when he stands up to stretch, and his coffee is almost finished. He picks up the cup and looks at the logo - it’s a crescent moon with a couple of stars in the curve, a simple yet memorable design. He can’t really remember how the interior of the cafe looked, can’t remember how the place smelled like. He can’t even remember the face of the cashier. He turns the cup around and sees the messy scrawl in permanent marker, and he almost drops the cup. _Cutie_ , it reads unmistakably, despite the less-than-stellar handwriting. It can’t be any other language, Jihoon realises halfway through Google-translating it into every language available on the server, and yet, it can’t possibly mean what it says. He’s a grown-up man in his mid-twenties, so who the hell is calling him a _cutie_? 

 

He tosses it into the bin after work, ignoring the annoying voice in the back of his mind, telling him his coffee is _cute_.

 

“Good morning, how may I help you?”

 

“One large iced Americano, please,” Jihoon says, a little out of breath. He should change his alarm clock. Ringing twenty minutes late once may be due to human error, but twice in a row means the clock is clearly the problem.

 

The cashier looks at him curiously, and the two seconds of silence makes Jihoon look up from his wallet. “One large iced Americano,” he repeats, although with less vigour, because the cashier’s eyes are so big and deep and endless, and Jihoon feels static dance across his heart when their gazes meet. How he managed to overlook the cashier’s appearance entirely on the first day, he can’t find a reason. When his drink is finished, he takes it swiftly, and walks out faster than the day before, but not before glancing back for a fraction of a second to see the cashier watching him as he left.

 

“One minute,” Seungcheol taunts as Jihoon bursts through the door, “you’re lucky Jisoo isn’t in today.”

 

One minute late, although he took the exact same route, left on the exact same minute as the previous day. Did he really spend an extra three minutes staring at the cashier in Lunar’s Coffee? Or did the cashier take longer than usual to prepare the coffee?

 

Jihoon sifts through the paperwork Jisoo left for him, and he finishes earlier than he expects. He tries to ignore the same handwriting, same word written on his cup when he drains his coffee, but Seungcheol doesn’t hide his curiousity. 

 

“Who’s flirting with you?” 

 

“No one,” Jihoon insists, “he needs to visit an optometrist if he’s flirting with me.“

 

“Hey, hey, don’t discredit yourself like that. You’re a great person, and you’re not that bad looking,” Seungcheol says kindly. Jihoon doesn’t believe him, and swats him away. It’s a sensitive topic for him, kind of, although Jihoon has never been enthusiastic about romance. Many people give him looks when they find out he’s twenty-six and has never dated even once, some overly-generous friends offered to set him up on dates, all of which he refused. His goal is to earn a stable income enough to feed his parents and let them live a comfortable retired life. Everything else comes after, including dating, and settling down if he manages to find someone who’s willing to do that with him.

 

He goes back home early, a privilege available only when Jisoo isn’t in. He could sleep early, or just laze around doing nothing, or indulge in a couple of rounds of Overwatch, but he can’t seem to take his mind of the eyes of that cashier in Lunar Coffee, and the evident “flirting” Seungcheol insists was happening.

 

Luckily, Jihoon remembers to change his alarm clock, and he wakes up on time the next day. He takes his time to get ready, leisurely choosing between two shirts, scrolling through his phone as he eats his soggy cereal. He leaves on time, giving him thirty minutes to drive to the kiosk, pump some fuel into his car, and then drive to work, and have twenty minutes to laze around and use the office’s high-speed WiFi to play one round of Overwatch, but he finds himself walking instead.

 

_I must be crazy_ , he thinks, as his feet operate on auto-pilot mode on their path to Lunar Coffee.

 

“Good- oh, hello again, Sir.”

 

Jihoon tries not to trip over his words. “Good morning to you, too.”

 

“Your usual?” The cashier smiles, a charming quirk in the corners of his lips. Jihoon can’t look away.

 

The cashier walks off to prepare a large iced Americano, and Jihoon wonders how in the world his _usual_  has become this cafe in a short span of three days, compared to the past two years that he’s been walking to the previous cafe near his house.

 

“You’re not in a hurry today, Sir,” the cashier observes as he passes the coffee to Jihoon. It’s on the edge of ‘too personal’ on Jihoon’s scale of interacting with strangers, but he can’t seem to reject this guy. 

 

“I’m on time today, so I don’t have to run.” It’s a good answer, one that doesn’t reveal too much about himself, although the strong gaze of the cashier’s seems to look right through him anyway.

 

“That’s nice, Mr. Jihoon. I’m going to assume that the previous two times, you came here because it’s on the way to your workplace, and today, you came here of your own accord. I’m guessing the coffee is to your liking?”

 

Jihoon stares at him for a long moment. 

 

“Sorry, I’m an observant guy, and you did give me your name two days ago.” 

 

“No, it’s fine. The coffee is good, thanks. I used to go to another cafe, I got used to it until I woke up late and wasn’t able to drive there before work.” He realises that he’s leaning against the counter, not making any move to leave the cafe at all, almost as if there’s an invisible pull making him stay. A quick glance at the clock on the wall behind the cashier tells him he doesn’t have to hurry.

 

“I see. Well, we did move in recently, so I can’t blame you there. I’ll see you more often now, then,” the cashier says, handsomely drying his cups. Jihoon doesn’t even know how he looks so good just doing such a mundane task.

 

“How will you know that? I’ve only been here three days.”

 

Jihoon knows full well now that they’re both flirting. Just a little hint of it, in the subtle smirks and glints of hot, static electricity in their gazes.

 

“Well, Sir,” the cashier says, leaning his elbow on the counter, bringing him to eye level with Jihoon, “as the saying goes, ‘once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and thrice is an _addiction_.’”

 

 

“Is he still calling you cutie?” Seungcheol grins, as he takes a peek at Jihoon’s cup. Jihoon glares at him and he takes off running. “He’s _so_  flirting,” he calls out over his shoulder, and Jihoon throws a paper clip at his head. Seungcheol ducks, and Jisoo appears from his office wearing an amused smile. 

 

“Who’s flirting?” He asks, much to Jihoon’s dismay. The last thing he needs is the entire office teasing him to no end. It doesn’t help that everyone knows that he’s single and yet refuses to accept that he’s simply not interested in dating.

 

“Some barista is interested in Jihoon.” _The traitor_ , Jihoon frowns, as Jisoo takes obvious interest and follows after him to gather more intel about possible sparks in Jihoon’s otherwise unkindled heart.

 

“Are you the cashier or the barista?” He asks the guy after he orders his coffee (it’s the sixth day, but he insists he isn’t counting), and he offers a wide, attractive smile in return. 

 

“Me? Oh, I’m all of it. I’m the owner of Lunar Coffee,” he says proudly, chest slightly puffing out. Jihoon finds it extremely, unexplainably adorable, the way his smile is filled with childlike innocence, like a kid wanting to be praised after getting a math question right. 

 

“Wow, must be tough, opening a cafe on your own,” Jihoon says, trying not to look to impressed. He shouldn’t be impressed, even though this guy is the boss of his own business, it’s just a small cafe, nothing big and showy. He looks so proud of it though, so Jihoon supposed he put a lot of time and effort into this project.

 

“You should go, Jihoon, it’s going to be nine soon.”

 

Jihoon doesn’t know when they’ve gotten close enough for him to call Jihoon by first name, or when the time has started passing so quickly that he’s starting to yearn a few extra minutes in the comfy warmth of Lunar Coffee and the company of its quirky owner. He bolts out of the door with a sheepish smile thrown over his shoulder before realising he didn’t even get the guy’s name.

 

“Morning, Jihoon! Did you visit your barista again?” Jisoo beams at him from where he’s sitting on Seungcheol’s desk, and Jihoon almost rolls his eyes in response.

 

“You seem awfully interested in the barista. He’s just down across the street, in Lunar Coffee. You can go visit-”

 

“Wait, Lunar Coffee?” Jisoo’s eyes widen, before he bends over laughing, “so it’s just Jun, then.”

 

_Jun?_

 

“He’s an old friend,” Jisoo explains, waggling his eyebrows, “he’s handsome, isn’t he?”

 

Jihoon frowns hard. “I never said that.”

 

“It’s a fact, Jihoon. Even I think so, you don’t have to be shy.”

 

Jihoon is more interested in his name. Is Jun his name, or is it a nickname? If he’s Jisoo’s friend, how old is he?

 

Above all, Jihoon is curious about why he actually cares so much. Did ‘Jun’ spike his coffee?

 

_Thrice is an addiction._

 

Jihoon’s cheeks flush when he realises it might not only be the coffee he’s addicted to.

 

He learns that Junhui is his name, and he studied business with Jisoo in college. “Ah, Jisoo,” Junhui has said, “he was a peculiar guy. I never knew he was just across the road!”

 

From that day on, it felt like a connection was established, a thin wire linking them together, the currents of static that danced across Jihoon’s fingertips when their fingers brushed now conducted across them, stronger than ever. Jihoon would talk about work, sometimes complaining about Jisoo after swearing Junhui to secrecy, and in turn, he learns about the interesting stories of his boss in college.

 

Junhui is a person who warms up and grows on you quickly, someone who’s the personification of a cool sea breeze on a hot summer day or a warm fire on a winter night. It’s easy to smile around him, and his presence is comfortable and relaxing. Jihoon finds himself opening up more than he’d like to, but it doesn’t feel wrong in the slightest. Making friends has never been so easy. Has it always been this easy? 

 

“A regular of Lunar Coffee now, I see,” Seungcheol muses as he walks past Jihoon’s desk, dodging a punch from the guy himself. Seungcheol and Jisoo are convinced that Jihoon and Junhui have the hots for each other, and while Jihoon would be enraged that they’re overthinking, he’s a little more pissed that they’re assuming he’s being led to Lunar Coffee by Junhui’s good looks above anything else. Junhui’s more than just a pretty face. He’s tempted to spill all the tea Junhui’s shared about Jisoo’s dark college past, but he stops himself from snapping at them. After all, they don’t deserve to know that much. 

 

It’s been well over a month when Junhui (finally) steps out of the comfort zone. “Say, Jihoon, do you want to have dinner sometime?”

 

Jihoon observes him as he talks, and he has to tell his heart to calm down when he sees the slight tinge of pink on the apples of Junhui’s cheeks. He knows very well what this means. It’s a step out of the boundary they’ve carefully drawn in the past two months, and into another level of their relationship. He’s not too sure if he’s ready to go into that level, not when he’s gotten so comfortable just being friends. The undeniable quickening of his pulse when Junhui just so simply smiles in his direction when he walks into the cafe convinces him he won’t be satisfied if he doesn’t give it a shot.

 

“Yeah, why not? I’m available after five on weekdays.”

 

He realises that Junhui has to work all day in the cafe. “No, no, it’s fine! I hired a few part-timers, so I should be fine. Tomorrow, at six? I’ll pick you up.”

 

Jihoon agrees, and leaves his phone number for easier communication. Only now does it dawn on him that for the past seven weeks, he’s relied on only one hour every weekday morning to talk to Junhui, and he’s already this attached. 

 

“Where are you rushing off to?” Jisoo asks when Jihoon packs up, fifteen minutes before five, “you’re always so lazy to move in the afternoon.”

 

“I’ve got an appointment,” is all he says, reluctant to let on that he’s meeting Junhui in an hour and fifteen minutes. His heart is already about to jump out of his chest at the thought, mind clogging up with too many thoughts. What is appropriate to wear, should he use cologne, how should he style his hair? He subconsciously searches _smart casual date outfits_  on Google before he can register what he’s doing, before he realises that he’s actually going for a _date_.

 

At least, that’s what he thinks it is. Maybe Junhui just thinks of this is hanging out as pals.

 

It is very evident that is not the case and the feeling is mutual when he sees Junhui outside his apartment complex at five fifty-five in the evening, hair styled neatly with a parting, in jeans and a black shirt and bomber jacket, looking his best, pacing around and looking restless. Jihoon takes three deep breaths to calm his nerves before making his way down after staring at Junhui through his window like Rapunzel at her prince. He feels so jittery, he can feel the manly pride wash away with every step he takes down the stairs and be replaced by the shyness of a stupid teenage girl in love. His first ever date, and it might be naive to act this way, but it feels absolutely magical to him. 

 

(The deep breaths he took are totally useless, because seeing Junhui up close steals all the air in his lungs.)

 

“Hey,” Junhui breaths, smiling at him, “you look good. A lot younger than your usual businessman look.”

 

Jihoon looks away at the compliment, but Junhui misunderstands. “Not that I mean you look old when you work! Just that you look even better than normal.”

 

It’s comforting, knowing that he’s not the only one stuttering. Not that he’s actually said a single word, of course. His mouth is hanging a little ajar, gaping dumbly at Junhui, unable to form coherent sentences with his mind a useless, jumbled mess. His heart is the one stuttering, and he feels like it might give up entirely and he’ll fall dead on the pavement from how erratic his heartbeat is.

 

They eat a simple meal at the Chinese restaurant Junhui recommends, and it’s great, seeing Junhui eat. The food must’ve been delicious, because Jihoon finishes the food he thought he wouldn’t be able to, but even so, he only remembers the delight in Junhui’s eyes as he ate his share of the food. Junhui was born in China but moved to Korea in his teens for his studies, so Jihoon can imagine that he misses his hometown food. The way he smiles, eyes widening as he eats, or the way he sighs, closing his eyes at the familiar taste, Jihoon sees it all and stores in it the back of his mind. The food is delicious, but more through his eyes than his taste buds. 

 

They part ways where they started off their night, in front of Jihoon’s apartment complex, and Junhui shooes him back into his home, telling him to sleep early and not to be late for work the next day. 

 

“It’s okay if I’m late, anyway,” he replies, “that’s why I went to your cafe, isn’t it?”

 

Junhui looks surprised for a moment, before breaking into a wide smile. “Yeah, you’re right. See you tomorrow, Jihoon.”

 

Just as he expected, he can’t sleep at all, laying awake on his bed and tossing and turning occasionally. His mind keeps going back to their dinner together, their small talk, Junhui’s smile, Junhui’s laugh, and he wants to beat himself up over how smitten he is just from one date. He’s definitely overreacting just because this is his first ever date, and Junhui was such great company. Even though he doesn’t want to allow himself to be too happy over one good date, his heart is leaping, and a smile crawls over his face when he pictures Junhui’s laughter and half-moon eyes just before he finally succumbs to the sleep devil.

 

Jihoon has to steel himself and look as nonchalant as possible when he steps into office so he doesn’t arouse any suspicion from his nosy colleagues (namely Seungcheol and Jisoo). That morning, he had walked into Lunar Coffee at eight, his usual schedule, and ordered an extra strong brew. 

 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Junhui gave him a knowing smile, to which he laughed off. “It’s okay, me too,” Junhui said before passing the coffee to him. Jihoon’s heart went into overdrive at his words and the implication behind them, and he had to excuse himself early so as not to risk making a fool of himself in front of Junhui.

 

Fortunately, Seungcheol and Jisoo don’t pick up any signals from Jihoon, and they don’t pester him beyond the usual teasing. Another colleague makes an offhand remark about how Jihoon doesn’t really drive to work anymore, and they gang up on Jihoon and spill the beans about his daily coffee fix. It doesn’t get any worse than that, so Jihoon grits his teeth and tolerates it. 

 

It isn’t even a week when Junhui takes the initiative a second time.

 

“Bowling? Really?” Jihoon raises his eyebrow when Junhui proposes the idea. 

 

“Hey, it was in the top ten date ideas,” Junhui whines, his occasional childishness showing. Jihoon almost chokes when he hears the word _date_.

 

“Alright, meet you there at six?”

 

He regrets stating such an early time, because he took way too long choosing an outfit that doesn’t overlap with his previous one, and he’s definitely going to be late and Junhui’s going to get mad at him for being stood up. Instead, he reaches the venue just on time, granted that he ran just a little bit and jaywalked once, not that he’s going to say any of that out, and Junhui looks as happy as always to see him.

 

They book a lane and Junhui orders food for both of them. Jihoon plays first, and knocks down eight pins in two tries. “Not too bad,” Junhui says, before he strikes and throws all of Jihoon’s pride and effort under the rug. They compete and unsurprisingly, Junhui wins with a large lead, and the punishment is that Jihoon buys the drinks. It’s a lenient forfeit, and Jihoon complains that he was already planning to pay for the food and drinks anyway. Junhui smirks at him, “Okay then, the next penalty is a kiss on the cheek.”

 

Jihoon can’t seem to focus after that, and scores near zero for his next three hits, mind and heart and hand teetering off balance at the thought of kissing, or being kissed on the cheek. 

 

“Are you sure you’re not purposely losing?” Junhui asks accusingly as Jihoon walks back with a low score of three pins. He denies all the accusations, but it _is_  Junhui’s fault he’s performance is so bad, anyway.

 

Again, it’s unsurprising that he loses. He almost dies and goes to heaven just from Junhui tilting his head towards Jihoon to receive his prize. He definitely dies and goes to heaven when his lips touch Junhui’s cheek, just fleetingly, like a feather brushing across skin, but it burns all the same. After that, he probably revives just so he can die again when Junhui swiftly whips his head around to plant his lips on Jihoon’s cheek in return.

 

Jihoon screams into his pillow as soon as he enters his room, after bidding Junhui goodbye at the bowling alley. Regrettably, Junhui wasn’t able to walk Jihoon back home after Jihoon insisted that he didn’t go through all that trouble when he lived in the opposite direction. He almost ran home after that, keen to be in the comfort of his own bed so he could properly cry over the day’s events. What a milestone today was, receiving and giving his first kiss to a person he is interested in, and going on a second date with that same person. This had to be the stuff of fairytales, especially since Jihoon thought that most first dates ended up being the last dates and that it wasn’t so easy to fall in love with someone.

 

This time, unfortunately, he isn’t so capable of hiding his feelings from the ever-observant eagle eye of Seungcheol.

 

“Something’s up, I know it. Is it your barista boy?”

 

Jihoon tries to shoo him away, but to no avail. Seungcheol is set on uncovering the truth behind Jihoon’s subtle smile and constant texting, although it’s painfully obvious what is the reason behind it. He only leaves when he’s satisfied with Jihoon’s admittance that yes, he and Junhui are talking every day, and yes, he thinks Junhui is cute. Both are known facts, anyway, so he doesn’t have anything to lose.

 

Jihoon resumes his daily routine of waking up at seven, brushing his teeth, eating a bowl of cereal, taking a shower, putting on his shirt and pants, then leaving his home at seven-fifty. He takes twenty minutes to get to Lunar Coffee, which leaves him forty-eight minutes to spend with Junhui. Sometimes, when he thinks about it, forty-eight minutes is too long, too clingy, but every morning at eight fifty-eight, he feels like it’s too short.

 

Before he knows it, Junhui’s become part of his morning, and part of his life. It’s a welcome addition to his otherwise mundane existence, a bright boy with a brighter smile and beautiful black oceans in his eyes. It really is a fairy tale, because nothing can be this perfect, right?

 

 

“I was thinking about a cat cafe. You aren’t allergic, are you?” 

 

Jihoon shakes his head as he sips on his hot chocolate (“You shouldn’t drink so much caffeine, Jihoon. I’m a coffee brewer, I know how unhealthy it is.” “....Fine.”). Junhui smiles his comforting, gentle sea breeze and morning sunshine smile, and Jihoon’s heart does a couple somersaults. It’s going to be a gymnast at this rate, because it can’t seem to control its jumping around Junhui. 

 

“I’ll text you the details, you’re going to be late soon,” Junhui says, and watches Jihoon check the time and stand up. Before he leaves, Junhui grabs his arm and leans down, pressing a chaste kiss to Jihoon’s cheek. It flames up at the contact immediately, and Junhui’s eyes crinkle as he smiles.

 

“Have a good day at work, Jihoon.”

 

For the good part of the day, Jihoon’s heart makes no move to calm down, happily doing its cartwheels in his chest while Jihoon replays the moment Junhui kissed him like a broken tape recorder. The way he held Jihoon’s forearm, not too strong but just firm enough to mean _stay_ , the way his plump lips pressed into his skin, and the way his eyelashes fluttered against Jihoon’s cheekbone as he leaned close and closer until they were separated by nothing. Jihoon wishes the moment lasted longer. It’s already starting to fade out of his memory, the edges burning off by the fire raging in his heart.

 

“Look at his heart-eyes,” Seungcheol stage whispers to Jisoo, “he’s in _looooove_.”

 

“Yeah,” Jisoo replies with the same enthusiasm, “it must be Junhui.”

 

Jihoon pointedly ignores the two of them and makes a mental note not to do them any more favours in the next month.

 

_It’s just two streets away from your workplace! I’ll meet you there at six, don’t bother dressing up too nicely because the cats will climb on you :)_

 

Jihoon can hardly contain his smile and his goddamn national gymnast of a heart when he walks the familiar road to the office, except dressed casually in a black shirt tucked in slightly at the front of his jeans. When he meets Junhui in front of the cafe, Junhui slings an arm around his waist and breathes into his ear, “You look good like this.”

 

Jihoon’s heart does a complete routine and lands on its head, stuttering and wobbly and distraught. He feels totally attacked, ambushed on all sides and defended stripped down until he’s standing bare and weak and vulnerable.

 

They enter the cat cafe, and Jihoon is again attacked, this time by the crowd of kittens, both physically and mentally. They’re so cute, he almost loses his composure and bends down to coo at them, but the bigger cat beside him (Junhui) drags him in after paying and seats the both of them in the corner. “I hid the food in my pocket. Once you take it out, all of them will come over.” Jihoon nods savagely, as if they’re spies on a mission, fighting to keep their loot a secret.

 

“You’re so cute,” Junhui laughs, and sits closer, presses his side flush against Jihoon’s before wrapping the same arm around his waist loosely. Jihoon wonders briefly if Junhui can feel his pulse thundering under his skin. They feed the cats idly, keeping up comfortable and natural small talk, something that might’ve been a difficult task for Jihoon in the past, but Junhui makes everything so easy. Jihoon can barely think _he’s a fairy tale prince_  before Junhui is scooping up a kitten and squeezing it gently, purring softly at it. Jihoon’s stomach twists at the warm sight, joining in his heart with its continuous somersaults.

 

“I love cats,” Junhui sighs, “they’re so soft and cuddly.”

 

“You’re like one,” Jihoon blurts out, and immediately wants to chase and swallow back his words, but of course it’s too late and Junhui is turning to him with a confused look.

 

“Are you saying I’m soft and cuddly?”

 

“I’m saying you act like a cat.”

 

Junhui laughs, and the arm around Jihoon’s waist tightens. “Well, _I_ think _you’re_ soft and cuddly.”

 

Jihoon obviously doesn’t know how to reply to that, so he just snorts and subconsciously leans into Junhui’s touch. They’re almost finished with the cat food, and the cats are almost done eating, because they’re lying around the two of them and not bothering to poke at their plastic pouch of nibbles anymore. Junhui barely lures a cat to his lap before it stalks off to collapse in some cushion.

 

“Today was fun, as always,” Junhui says, stretching as they exit the cafe. Jihoon doesn’t want the night to end just yet, so he suggests grabbing a bite, to which Junhui readily agrees while rubbing his tummy. _Just like a kitten_ , Jihoon’s mind helpfully contributes.

 

After a scrumptious meal of hot dogs, Junhui sends Jihoon off in front of his apartment complex with yet another kiss on the cheek and a pat on his lower back, both of which make Jihoon’s cheeks flame with searing heat. He runs up and crashes face-first into his bed, phone in his hand and open on a Google search of _what to do when you’re falling in love._

 

In the subsequent mornings, his cup of coffee is adorned with a nicer handwriting and a carefully drawn heart after his name, and he does he utmost best to cover up with Lunar Coffee napkins so Seungcheol can’t gloat at him all day. He does, however, admire it before wistfully tossing it into the bin, only bearing to throw it away after reminding himself that he’ll get another cup  tomorrow morning either way.

 

Junhui has gotten a lot more _comfortable_  with him, fingertips lingering and skin brushing and lips kissing more than before. Jihoon lets him do it without a fight, because no matter how much he searches, he can’t find it in himself or Google to stop this onslaught of feelings for the owner of Lunar Coffee. He’s not the only one anyway, if he’s reading the signs correctly, and he can’t possibly be wrong because Junhui’s practically a billboard on a highway at night, shining bright in neon lights that’s he’s as invested in this growing relationship as much as Jihoon is. Falling in love can’t be this easy, but it just is, just like fairy tales and princes are easy to believe in when you're young and open-hearted.

 

“I was thinking,” Junhui says, as Jihoon sits by the counter and sips his chocolate, “about- about us, uh, if you might want to date. If we’re dating.”

 

Junhui keeps his eyes on the cup he’s cleaning with his washcloth, blushing furiously. Jihoon still thinks he looks so handsome, even when he’s doing something so _normal_ , even if it’s been a thousand times he’s seen Junhui doing the exact same thing. His beauty is unrivalled, and Jihoon’s heart is unwavering. He ponders about the possibility of them being together. They’ve gone on dates - three in the past three months, and they’ve spent their weekdays mornings together and weekends texting each other. Jihoon’s never dated before, so he doesn’t know right from wrong, love from infatuation, but he does know that it’s easier to smile in the day after seeing Junhui and drinking his coffee, easier to laugh when Junhui’s laughing with him, and easier to love when Junhui’s loving him. There’s always a first time for everything, and Junhui has taken the honour of being many firsts for him, and he’s been doing a splendid job of making Jihoon want to experience more of whatever journey this is.

 

Jihoon’s long forgotten what that old cafe’s coffee tasted like, forgotten what mornings were like when he didn’t spend an hour leaning against Junhui’s counter and talking about his day while admiring Junhui’s beautiful smile. He can hardly believe that he might just have the same effect on Junhui. 

 

“Well, like you once said,” Jihoon smiles, leaning closer and reaching up to place his hand gently on the back of Junhui’s neck, grabbing all this attention, eyes locked in a static gaze, electricity dancing between them like when they first touched.

 

“Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence. We’ve been on three dates,” he mumbles, faces barely an inch from each other.

 

“And I’m so fucking addicted to you,” Junhui finishes, closing the distance between them, lips pressing insistently against lips, hands finding purchase on each other’s skin, hearts beating in the same flurry of staccato, frantically against their ribcages. Junhui tastes like coffee and chocolate and mint and everything like Lunar Coffee, and Jihoon is melting every second into the kiss, his heart stopping and stuttering and beating and losing his mind and only being able to think about Junhui and everything about him. He never got to thank his broken alarm clock for making him walk into Lunar Coffee twice, but he only has Junhui to thank for being the reason to his addiction to the cafe and eventually the man himself. 

 

The bell rings, and the two of them spring apart, cheeks flushed and hearts palpitating wildly. Junhui grabs his cloth and cup and polishes it with the strength to rub off layers of its ceramic.

 

“Oh, hey you two,” Jisoo smirks, “seems like Jihoon’s been getting a little more than just coffee here, huh.”

 

More than just coffee seems about right, Jihoon thinks as he keeps his gaze focused on Junhui and blatantly ignoring Jisoo. The way the tips of his ears are red and his breathing is quicker than usual and his fingers dancing in the wake of the rush of adrenaline while they kissed, everything paints Junhui much more beautiful. Jihoon doesn’t need to search on Google to know that he’s just falling more and more in love with Junhui by the day. 

 

He gets sent off along with Jisoo, who obnoxiously insisted on staying behind to chat, except that Jihoon gets a small peck on the corner of his lips and a reserved, shy smile from his boyfriend. 

 

“Come back again,” Junhui calls out, mostly to Jisoo, but he’s already out of earshot.

 

“You know I will,” Jihoon replies in his stead, and Junhui gives him a blinding smile. Jihoon already misses his warmth.

 

He doesn’t have to wait for long, because Junhui is waiting outside his office when he walks out.

 

“My part-timer’s closing today, so we have the night to ourselves,” he grins, and Jihoon can’t help but smile back, already happy to be in Junhui’s company. They don’t decide on a place to eat, and end up in Jihoon’s apartment ordering chicken. They curl up on the couch while waiting for their food, Junhui’s arms wrapped around Jihoon’s middle and Jihoon pressing his nose into the crook between Junhui’s neck and shoulder. 

 

“You’re more like a cat than I am,” Junhui chuckles, and Jihoon feels the vibration from his throat against his nose. 

 

“You’re warm,” he breathes out, moving closer to Junhui until there’s nothing separating them, just the way he likes it. Junhui presses short kisses into his hair, and Jihoon has never felt so _in love_  with anything or anyone before, it overwhelms him.

 

“What if something happens, though. What if we fight?” He asks, and he’s just genuinely curious. He’s never been in a relationship before, so he doesn’t know what happens when couples fight. 

 

“Then we fix it, and we make up,” Junhui says simply. Of course it can’t be that simple, Jihoon thinks, not even if it’s Junhui. There has to be a reason why people break up, after all.

 

“Not everything is fairytales and all,” Junhui continues, “but I promise you that if we fight, I’ll want to work it out.”

 

Jihoon is much more satisfied with that answer, and leans up to kiss Junhui’s long column of neck, making him hum contentedly.

 

After their meal of chicken and cola, Junhui decides he’s still hungry, and ends up pressing Jihoon into his sheets, kissing him with a fervour Jihoon only just realised that he must have been holding back all this while. “I didn’t need three times to know how much I wanted this,” Junhui admits when they’re cuddled up and enjoying each other’s warmth afterwards, after the heat has sizzled out and the fire is reduced to a gentle crackling in the fireplace. After all this while, Junhui is still as comforting as the warmth of the gentle flame, enjoyed while seated in a comfy armchair with a good book to read. He’s still as comforting as the gentle sea breeze, brushing through his hair and against his skin, carrying the familiar smell of sea and nature, one that Jihoon loves. For a long time now, Jihoon’s been likening Junhui to the things he loves without realising he’s doing it, and he thinks that maybe, nothing was an accident or coincidence after all. Maybe it was meant to be all along, for their stories to intertwine and weave into one another to form a wonderful fairytale, a magical connection to build between them.

 

“Yeah, me too,” he replies, hugging Junhui’s body closer, nestling himself in Junhui’s space, where he feels like he belongs, “I was already addicted before I knew it.”

 

Junhui laughs, and Jihoon loves his laugh, loves how his chest trembles as he laughs. Everything about Junhui is suddenly a synonym to the word love and possibly also the word happiness.

 

“What if I say I love you? How do you think that would that fit into the saying?”

 

Jihoon thinks hard, but his brain is slowly shutting down, melting in the warmth of Junhui’s embrace.

 

“Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, thrice is an addiction... and four times... four times means I’ve fallen in love with you and there’s no turning back anymore.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading this far!!! I always appreciate any comments at all, and I hope you guys know that every comment and when you find me on Twitter or something to talk to me about my fics (LOOKIN RIGHT AT YOU, MY DEAR SANI ♡) I really really feel thankful and it inspires me to write more!! I’m not the best writer out there but I really like to write and I try my best ;-; every comment gives me a little more motivation and confidence to keep writing and I’m really thankful although I don’t reply to all of them or read them immediately!! Love you all hehe and happy birthday to our moon prince, Junhui!! (Don’t know if you caught it, but it’s Lunar Coffee because, Moon, you know?)


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